from pp.13-14

328 testo text (cognate). From Latin textus (“text”). Not to be confused with testa (“head”). To help remember this, imagine a female figure’s head and a man’s writing. (While this may sound sexist, it has some truth in a historical context.)

329 tornare to return, to go / come back. From Latin tornare (“to turn”). Cognate with turn, Spanish tornar and French tourner (“to turn”). Note this word does not mean “to turn”, which would be girare. Example, tornare a casa (“to return / go back home”); tornare sull’argomento (“to get back to the topic”).

330 ambito scope, ambit, purview, environment, scopo. From Latin ambitus (“around going”), cognate with Spanish ámbito (“scope”). If you don’t know English ambit, think of ambient, ambition.

332 allora then, at that time; now. From Latin ad illam horam (“at that hour”). Cognate with French alors (“then”, “at that time”). You can analyze the word as all’ora (“at the hour”) except that it mostly referred to an old time. Example, la gente di allora (“the people of that time / back then”).

335 risposta response, answer, reply. The root is from Latin ponere (“to put”). Cognate with Spanish respuesta (“reponse”, “answer”). English response is etymologically unrelated but looks close and can be used as a mnemonic. Examples, la risposta corretta / sbagliata (“the right / wrong answer”); una risposta a / ad una mail (“a reply to a mail”).

336 capire to understand. From Latin capere (“to take”, “to catch”, “to capture”). Cognate with capture, catch, capacity, Spanish caber (“to fit”). Understanding something is likened to capturing it, mentally. Or think of mental capacity as how much you understand things. Examples, non capisco (“I don’t understand”); capisci? (“you understand?”).

338 guerra war. From Latin guerra (“war”). Cognate with guerrilla (where -illa is a diminutive suffix), Spanish guerra and French guerre (“war”). Example, la seconda guerra mondiale (“the Second World War”).

341 gestione management. From Latin gestionem (“managing”). Cognate with gesture, Spanish gestión and French gestion (“management”). Imagine a manager making gestures or hand movements to direct his subordinates. Example, sotto la sua corretta gestione, l’azienda ha evitato il fallimento (“under his proper management, the company avoided bankruptcy”).

342 bambino child, baby. When a baby starts to speak a word, his gibberish may sound like bambo; English barbarian can be traced to such sound as well. Suffix -ino is diminutive.

343 luglio July (cognate). Probably from Latin Iulius (“July”), the month Julius Caesar was born in.

347 misura measure (n.), measurement; measure, action. From Latin mensura (“measure”). Cognate with measure, Spanish mesura (“moderation”), French mesure (“measure”). Not to be confused with misuse, which would be abuso in Italian. Examples, un’unità di misura (“a unit of measurement”); prendere misure di sicurezza (“to take safety measures”).

349 successivo following, subsequent. 1035 succedere to happen, to occur; to succeed (to take the place of; to follow). Just note that these words do not mean “successful”, “to succeed” (“to have success”), which would be riuscito, riuscire, respectively, at least in Modern Italian. But confusingly, successo does mean “success” so riuscire can also be avere successo. And note successivo does not quite mean “successive”, which would be consecutivo in Italian. Generally, a Romance language word is more literal in meaning than its English cognate if their meanings have diverged. Examples, nel momento successivo (“in the next moment”, “subsequently”); Biden è succeduto a Trump come presidente degli Stati Uniti (“Biden succeeded Trump as the US president.”).

352 processo process; trial. Note the second meaning. Example, mettere sotto processo (“to put on trial”; note the preposition sotto, not su).

355 libro book. From Latin librum (“book”). Cognate with library, Spanish libro and French livre (“book”). Example, un libro di testo (“a textbook”).

357 insieme together. From Latin in- + simul (“at the same time”), which confers English simultaneous. Cognate with French ensemble (“together”), which has entered English. Example, insieme a (“together with”; note the preposition a, not con).

359 marzo March (cognate). From Latin martius (“Mars”). Not to be confused with English march or Italian marcia.